I’m re-reading Eric Flint & David Drake Belisarius series; excellent alt-history/time travel/military sci-fi.
Finished that, it was very good.
I’m now a few chapters from finishing Dodger by Terry Pratchett.
I like it a lot. It probably helps that I’m a fan of 19th century Britain and know about most of the real-life people who are characters the novel without having to look them up. I’m liking it a lot more than the Long Earth (which I didn’t dislike as much as many people apparently did).
I have the same issue, except with my husband. I told him a lot about the book when I was reading it and tried to encourage him to try it, but he didn’t take the bait.
I read Fat, Drunk, & Stupid: The Inside Story Behind the Making of Animal House by producer Matty Simmons. What a piece of shit. Read all the negative reviews and you’ll have it. Peter Riegert’s character “Boon” is given as “Boone” throughout, and Simmons misspells Dan Aykroyd’s name consistently. Doesn’t St. Martin’s Press have any editors? Don’t bother.
The Scourge by A. G. Henly. Found it in the Kindle store last night, way down on the Fantasy list. It had lots of reviews, all positive. It’s written at the YA level and it’s surprisingly captivating. Very simple. Reminds me of Robin Hobb.
It’s post-apocalypse, and “the scourge” refers to flesh-eating zombies. The unaffected humans are Lofties who live in trees and Groundlings who live on the ground. Groundlings take care of the Lofties, who never come down from the trees, by providing them food and water. Lofties return the favor by alerting the Groundlings when the Scourge is nearby, and by shooting them with bows and arrows. The main character is Fennel, a blind girl, a Sightless one. The Sightless, for a reason that will probably never be explained, can walk among the Scourge without being harmed.
I just started The Feud that Sparked the Renaissance this morning. At 5 pages I’m not in much of a position to judge, but the preface was written in full on fanboy mode…
I started reading Salman Rushdie’s memoir Joseph Anton last week and I’m about 75% through it now. The book is mostly about his years in hiding and it’s an intense read. You come to understand how oppressive the conditions were for him- he couldn’t go anywhere on his own, had special agents living in his house, had to move very frequently and at his own expense, and for much the time he was being forced to keep a low profile while the public and his opponents were free to characterize him as they pleased. I saw him discuss the book and do a short reading at Barnes & Noble last week (right after his Daily Show taping) and it was a great experience.
Been on a non-fiction kick lately, it seems.
I knocked out The Violinist’s Thumb: And Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius, as Written by Our Genetic Code by Sam Kean over a couple of days.
Kean tackles the history of genetics and DNA study with the same deft touch and scholarship as he did the history of chemistry in The Disappearing Spoon. His quirky sense of humour shows thru as well - at one point saying that two human populations may have separated due to a lack of food, climate change or perhaps a bitter butter battle. 
Very accessible IMHO - no in-depth scientific knowledge needed; but it didn’t feel like the material was dumbed-down, either. I would have liked more diagrams & such, but that may have been missing from the large print copy I read (I would have had to wait for the regular hardback to come back to the library) Recommended to anyone with a penchant for pop-science topics presented with a light touch. Should be on a reading list for AP Biology!
Working on Floating Gold: A Natural (and Unnatural) History of Ambergris by Christopher Kemp. An intriguing history of a precious organic substance interspersed with Kemp’s own seashore search for the bizarre digestive by-product. I was surprised (as was Kemp) to learn how little we still know about ambergris in a scientific sense. Kemp’s writing is entertaining, if a bit meandering & klunky at times - if you’re a fan of Mark Kurlansky’s work - this is more of the same, but perhaps a step or two down the quality ladder.
I read The Pale Horseman, the second book in Bernard Cornwell’s series called The Saxon Stories. It’s about the effort to keep the Danish Vikings from conquering Wessex in the late 9th century. The protagonist is a Saxon but he was captured as a child and raised by the pagan Danes, and he’s frustrated by King Alfred’s extreme Christian piety. Cornwell is no literary writer, but he’s good at this kind of story.
I just finished reading the first Nero Wolfe mystery novel: Fer-de-Lance, written by Rex Stout around 1933. This is my first experience with Wolfe, and the book was way more fun than I was expecting. It’s set in New York City - Wolfe is an obese, eccentric genius who rarely leaves his house; Archie Goodwin does all of the leg work, driving around town in his Roadster and offering generous $3 bribes for information from witnesses.
I think the Saxon Stories are the best things Cornwell has written to date. While his origins are definitely firmly in the genre tradition (I love his Sharpe series for example, but no-one would mistake it as great literature), I do think his Saxon Stories show some more skilled writerly chops. For example, his narrator is clearly unreliable when it comes to Alfred - he’s constantly interpreting his actions in the worst possible light; the author is to an extent relying on the reader knowing the famous incidents of Alfred’s life.
I’ve downloaded a ton of free classic novels on my Kindle, and am now immersed in Ivanhoe (which I’m surprised I was never assigned to read in my long ago school days).
Archie was one of my first literary crushes. The novels aren’t the Great American Novel but most of them are good fun and an enjoyable few hours of escapism.
I read Ivanhoe in college, I think being a medieval history student made it far more enjoyable than it would have been in high school.
I too enjoyed Ivanhoe. What’s not to like? It is the consumate medieval adventure novel, having medieval babes (including the real hero - a medival Jewish babe who is hot, learned and smart, a rarity in novels of that time and since!), heirs comming into their own, dastardly villans, great battles, and even freaking Robin Hood!
It’s not great literature, but it is a very entertaining read. You have to sort of overlook the historical anachronisms and the fact that the medieval Jewish babe’s father is a bit of a Shylock stereotype (the author meant well).
I’m reading the first Cadfael novel by Ellis Peters and have a ton of others in the pipeline.
I was stunned by the portrayal of strong women, both Lady Rowena and Rebecca were rather progressive and a sort of female character that wouldn’t been seen until the mid 1900s.
I loved Rebecca and thought Rowena should be poked with a stick.
'Course, I also thought that Brian de Bois-Guilbert was getting the short end of the stick. I can’t believe I still remember that his name was Brian de Bois-Guilbert. 
LOVE Cadfael! I reread 19 of them last year… I think I can’t bring myself to read the last one because it would be too much of a goodbye to all the characters I like: Cadfael, Hugh, Aline, Brother Mark, Abbot Radulfus…
I gotta admit, that’s pretty impressive. 
[spoiler]Wasn’t he the guy who was after Rebecca? As I recall, there were three baddies, one wanted Rebecca, one wanted Rowena, and one wanted Rebecca’s Dad’s cash. Sadly for them, their ambitions were thwarted. The baddest of the bunch was the guy after the cash - the authour wanted you to feel some sympathy for the other two.
Brian de Bois-Guilbert in particular (assuming I have the right guy) was a misunderstood bad boy who ends up throwing his life away out of love for Rebecca, even though she turned him down. Sad! Though he was a wannabe rapist. [/spoiler]
Currently reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman.
I think this second novel was better than the first. Or maybe I’m just more interested in vikings after reading The Long Ships.
I read all of the Sharpe books years ago, and as much as I enjoyed them, I thought I was done with Cornwell. I didn’t think I wanted to read that style of book about other characters. But apparently I was wrong - I picked up *Azincourt *and it was really good, and now I’m enjoying the Saxon books. And I just spotted Gallows Thief in a list of his standalone novels, and that sounds interesting.